Megan McArdle has a good post on her case for abolishing the corporate income tax. I say "good," not "excellent," because, in the midst of a comprehensive though succinct analysis, she doesn't get the issue of incidence correctly. She starts... MORE

We can kill off Halloween, or we can accept that it isn't dangerous and give it back to the kids. Then maybe we can start giving them back the rest of their childhoods, too. This is from Lenore Skenazy, "'Stranger... MORE

On his blog yesterday, Mankiw has a great humorous YouTube done by, presumably, students at Harvard. Mankiw himself has a starring role and plays it beautifully. The video is professionally done also and even, in the midst of humor, shows... MORE

I think, after having paid medium attention to the House of Representatives races, that the Republicans will have a net gain of 52 seats in the November elections. I realize that this is not analysis--it's based on some data and... MORE

Here's a paragraph from Christina Romer's op/ed in the New York Times: Now is not the time [to cut the deficit]. Unemployment is still near 10 percent in the United States and in Europe. Tax cuts and spending increases stimulate... MORE

In which our economist attempts legal scholarship Some opponents of California's Proposition 19, which I posted about earlier, claim that if it passes, California's state law will conflict with federal law on marijuana. Then, they argue, because of the supremacy... MORE

A commenter on my post yesterday asked me what I thought about California's Proposition 19, which would relax state and local government restrictions on marijuana. I voted for it because I want the government to let people do, in the... MORE

In today's Wall Street Journal appears a "Notable and Quotable" from Walter Russell Mead. It's from a longer post he did about the drug war. Mead's contribution to the discussion is to point out that we should, as a way... MORE

Here's an excerpt from Peter Baker's piece in the New York Times last week on Obama: He realized too late that "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects" when it comes to public works. Now here's the start of the... MORE

Lionel McKenzie, the man who started the University of Rochester's Ph.D. program in the 1950s, died last week. He was one of the heavy-hitting contributors to general equilibrium theory. That was never my cup of tea, but when I was... MORE

Here's a 10-minute collage of excerpts from various interviews with actor Will Smith. It's highly inspirational and the the whole thing is worth watching. You are unlikely to be bored because he covers a lot of ground. My favorite two... MORE

I recorded a segment of the John Batchelor show, a syndicated radio show, on Friday, October 8. It played on Thursday, October 14. It's here. When you click on the link, go to about the 28:00 point and the interview... MORE

In 1977, President Carter proposed that Social Security benefits be indexed, not to the price level as had been the case, but to wages. Because real wages tend to rise, this wage indexing would be expected to cause Social Security... MORE

Co-blogger Arnold has an excellent post this morning on Washington Post columnist's David Ignatius's piece on the rage against Washington. Ignatius asks why there is so much rage against the federal government given how good policy from Washington has been.... MORE

I'm always impressed when someone admits an error, and especially impressed when he admits an error brought to his attention by an undergrad in an introductory economics course. I just happened to read Douglass North's graceful tribute to the late... MORE

In 9 of the last 14 years, I have written the Wall Street Journal article that appears the day after the Nobel prize in economics is awarded. I missed 1999, 2000, and 2002 because I was in Europe and not... MORE

Right now I'm on a flight from Dallas to LAX. This is the first time I've been on-line in mid-air. It's fantastic. If you want to see a great 4-minute riff by Louisck that puts everything in perspective, check the... MORE

I'll be speaking tomorrow at a conference at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. My topic: Obamacare: The Nightmare in Our Future. I normally announce these things about a week in advance, but I've been on the road a lot and... MORE

I was impressed by the latest "60 Minutes" report on Bill and Melinda Gates and many of their choices about what to spend their fortunes on. One main choice is their large spending on producing a vaccine against malaria. Here's... MORE

After I posted Tuesday about the Tennessee fire, I saw that Paul Krugman had posted about it also. About the Tennessee fire department that refused to put out a fire for someone who had refused to pay $75 a year... MORE

Last night, I asked: Who was the first economist to win the Nobel prize? It's not as obvious as you might think. A hint (it's a very subtle hint) is in the category in which I listed this post. Commenters... MORE

Alex Pareene, at Salon, has a bizarre attack on libertarians. He titles it "For-Pay Fire Department Lets Man's House Burn." He refers to a story about a man who failed to pay an annual fee for fire protection and then,... MORE

In this month's Econlib Feature Article, which posted a few minutes ago, Robert Murphy lays out the basics of the stock market. A key paragraph: Despite its importance, the stock market remains a bit of a mystery, even to many... MORE

I was out for a pre-dinner walk near my hotel in Rosslyn this evening and I saw a beautiful new bus and next to it a line of people waiting. The suitcases indicated relatively long-distance travelers rather than commuters. I... MORE

Blogging software: Powered by Movable Type 4.2.1.
Pictures courtesy of the authors.
All opinions expressed on EconLog reflect those of the author or individual commenters, and do
not necessarily represent the views or positions of the Library of
Economics and Liberty (Econlib) website or its owner, Liberty Fund,
Inc.

The cuneiform inscription in the Liberty Fund logo is the
earliest-known written appearance of the word
"freedom" (amagi), or "liberty." It
is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash.